Reproductive Violence in Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats and Gaspar de Alba’s Desert Blood

This paper examines the intersection of environmental injustice and reproductive violence, extending its scope to include nonhuman animals, through the literary analysis of Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats (1998) and Alicia Gaspar de Alba’s Desert Blood (2005). Both works are well-researched novels of fact and reveal the biopolitical commodification of minoritized human and nonhuman bodies under neoliberalism. By highlighting the hidden realities of reproductive and environmental violence, these narratives expose systemic intersections of racism, sexism, and speciesism. The analysis demonstrates how reproductive violence serves as both a consequence and a strategy of neoliberalism and biopolitics, perpetuating power structures and brutal violence. By integrating nonhuman animals into the discourse on environmental and reproductive justice, this paper advocates for a more inclusive and holistic approach to understanding and addressing intersecting systems of oppression.